Stars and Steel

(continued)

How do I explain that an entire noble house is being murdered right now?

How do I casually drop, "Papa, the Everhart mansion is under attack," without sounding like I licked a magic mushroom?

He'll think I'm just babbling nonsense. A two-year-old's midnight fever dream. And by the time he realizes I wasn't… It'll be too late.

What do I say? What do I do? How do I save Osric before it's too late?

And then something clicked.

Ah… right.

I remember now.

How did I forget this? In the novel, there was a moment—just a passing line, a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of tragedy. It said Grand Duke Regis had tried to ask for help from the emperor. He sent one of his knights to the imperial palace in a last-ditch effort to get reinforcements.

But the knight was stabbed in the stomach.

He died before reaching the palace.